PESHAWAR, Feb 1: A delegation comprising two Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leaders and two officials will visit Kabul to secure the release of Pakistanis languishing in different jails in Afghanistan, sources said.

The sources said the delegation, comprising NWFP Jamaat-i-Islami chief Prof Mohammad Ibrahim, provincial general secretary of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan, and two officials would soon leave for Kabul to discuss the release of the prisoners.

The JI leader, when contacted, said the delegation would soon fix a schedule for the visit. He said all the available options would be studied to resolve the issue.

Prof Ibrahim said the exact number of Pakistani prisoners in the neighbouring country was not known, but according to unofficial reports the number was more than 1,000 and most of them were in the custody of local warlords in northern and central Afghanistan.

Sources said the NWFP chief minister had requested the federal government to speed up efforts for the release of the prisoners and allow the province to send a delegation to Kabul.